With the decrease in the size of semiconductor devices, the cross-sectional area of cells in semiconductor devices has also drastically decreased. As such, it is increasingly difficult, for example, to implement capacitors for devices such as Dynamic Random Access Memory devices (DRAMs). In order to increase the capacitance of DRAM capacitors, it may be possible to use a high dielectric material, to reduce the thickness of dielectric films, and/or to increase the effective area of lower electrodes of the capacitors. Making dielectric films thinner may make the films more susceptible to damage from electric charges.
In order to form a capacitor, a lower electrode, a dielectric film, and an upper electrode may typically be deposited on a substrate, specified regions may be etched, and then an interlayer insulation film may be formed on the upper part of the capacitor. To deposit the upper electrode and the interlayer insulation film, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using plasma may be used, while a dry etching procedure using a plasma may be used to etch the upper electrode and the interlayer insulation film.
However, a process using plasma as described above may cause unnecessary damage to the underlying layer of a film being deposited or etched. For example, the dielectric film may be charged with electric charges generated by the plasma. Such electric charges may break and/or damage the dielectric film, which may result in a deterioration of the electrical characteristics of the device.